In recent years, in order to attain the ideal of a low-carbon society, vehicles that are able to move via the power of an electric motor have become common. These vehicles are provided with a storage battery (for example, a secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery or a nickel-hydrogen battery or the like) that is able to be recharged, and drive the motor using power from the storage battery. The vehicles are able to move as a result of the wheels being rotated by the power from the motor. Typical examples of this type of vehicle include electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid vehicles (HV). Electrically-driven carrier vehicles and electric wheelchairs and the like are examples of vehicles other than automobiles.
In these vehicles, movement in a front-rear direction (i.e., in a forward travel direction) is easy, however, it is difficult for the vehicle to move by itself in a left-right direction (i.e., in a left-right direction that is orthogonal to the direction of forward travel: i.e., in a sideways direction) or in an up-down direction. Because of this, in cases when it is necessary to move a vehicle in a left-right direction or in an up-down direction such as, for example, when the vehicle is being parked in the narrow space or when goods are being loaded or unloaded from the vehicle, it is common for the vehicle to be transferred using a movable pallet that is capable of being moved in a left-right direction or in an up-down direction. In Patent documents 1 through 4 (see below), technology for transferring a vehicle in a left-right direction or in an up-down direction using this type of movable pallet is disclosed.